Comparing Elliptical 'And All She Wrote'

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Difficult to Communicate

The two poems, 'Elliptical' and 'All She Wrote', written by Harryette Mullen detail the difficulties of communication. The short structure of every sentence in each of the poems creates a powerful impact on the reader. While the use of pronouns describing those involved appear to put the author in the role of the main character(s), the phrasing and posture leads to the understanding this is a first-hand experience of having the inability or unwillingness to communicate properly. This creates a frustrating and tense environment for the reader and conveys the importance of understanding those who cannot communicate effectively. In fact, this work allows us to understand we may already be directly affected by issues with …show more content…

It seems the title of this poem is an irony in which the 'I', who is speaking is unable and unwilling to write and respond. However, later, 'I' sent a card to the one whom 'I' was addressing. (lines 8-9) We can see clearly that there is a lot of conflict in the wording of the poem. It gives the impression 'I' has the ability to write but finds it painfully difficult to do so. On the other hand, “Elliptical” uses mostly plural pronouns. The one speaking addresses issues they have with another group, but does not finish the thoughts. This theme of tension and negativity and the use of pronouns and short sentence structure are the strongest bonds between these two poems. The poems are put together in a way that addresses the inability or unwillingness to communicate properly. “All She Wrote” emphasizes personal issues with communication while “Elliptical” implies the one speaking cannot finish their sentences properly and leaves the reader hanging and looking for a clue as to the true intention of the speaker. However, this is exactly the point it was getting across. People just don't understand how hard it is for some people to communicate with others and some people cannot express themselves because it causes them a great deal of difficulty. Because of this, they silently suffer at the hands of those who misunderstand them as being shy or introverted when, in actuality, it may be a problem with how they perceive information and the inability to express themselves and communicate their